Oppositional defiant disorder （ODD） is a common psychological disorder in children， which appears in early childhood， reaches its peak in adolescence. The main clinical manifestations are disobedience， confrontation， passive resistance， irritability or provocation. Although ODD has no serious illegal or offensive behavior， it will still bring great trouble to children's family， school and social life. Parents and schools often lack awareness of ODD， which leads to low rate of treatment and lack of early effective intervention. This paper reviews the pathogenesis， clinical characteristics， diagnosis and treatment of ODD.